Public

One of the areas in which school districts are evaluated is the dropout rate of the district. Recent studies have indicated that our state ranks 47th in the nation in our high school dropout rate. We graduate about 61% of our students. The dropout rate is a major cause for concern.

My mom taught school for 30 years. Seventeen of those years were at Plainview, Louisiana, and 13 of them were at Hornbeck, Louisiana. In those 30 years, she taught a lot of students. One of those students was Wingate Dowden.

Throughout movie history there have been several shows with similar names. These have included, “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” “The Attack of the Clones,” and “The Attack of the 50-Foot Woman.” I am happy to report that I have seen none of these (I’m especially glad that I missed the last one of the above-named movies). I have not been able, however, to miss “The Attack of the Rufous-Sided Towhee.” This is a little drama that has been enacted for the past several years at the sliding-glass doors of our den.

BUILDING GOD'S HOUSE THROUGH MISSIONS

What: Mission Kids - K - 6th graders

Where: Game Room - CLC

When: 5:30 - 6:20 p.m. Sunday nights through April

Leaders: Mary Nell Smith and Ann Ryan

Lessons: February 28th - "God Can Use a House"
March 7th - "English in the Living Room / Slovakia
March 14th - Spring Break - No Mission Kids
March 21: "Missions in our Own Backyard/ Annie Armstrong & Home
Missions

Susan Boyle was a musical phenomenon in 2009. She appeared on the British television show Britain’s Got Talent on April 11, 2009. In her debut, she sang “I Dreamed a Dream,” from the musical "Les Miserables". On November 23, 2009, she released an album by that title. The album became the second biggest-selling album of 2009 in the United States, selling 3.1 million copies. The title song on that album, “I Dreamed a Dream,” appealed to a lot of folks, not only because of Boyle’s voice, but also because it touched the sadness that often marks the lives of many in our day.

Gary Morgan, the son of Herschel and Shirley Morgan, is a physician in Anniston, Alabama. While he was still in college, he was in Marshall Dickerson’s Sunday School Class. When it came time for Gary to make application for admission to medical school, he asked Marshall to write a letter of recommendation for him. Marshall said that he would be happy to do so.

I’ve always been a fan of the music group, the “Eagles.” Last week I was listening to a song they recorded a few years ago called “Busy Being Fabulous.” Like a lot of songs, it is about love and a marriage that have gone wrong. The problem, at least from the man’s perspective, is that his wife is spending so much of her time with her well-heeled friends that she has no time for him and their kids.